In an attempt to calculate the cost of war for Moscow since 2022, a study published in March by two American researchers, David R. Henderson and Ryan Sullivan, estimates that the loss of life of a soldier in Ukraine “costs” Russia $2.6 million.
- According to the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Ukrainian army, Robert Brovdi, kyiv must devote 3,000 times fewer resources to kill a Russian soldier. He declared in an interview that “the average cost of neutralizing a Russian soldier is around $918.”1.
- This figure, which is not supported by a methodology, would include the cost of producing a drone, the human resources involved and the average time spent per pilot for each soldier eliminated.
Although the branches that operate unmanned vehicles represent less than 3% of the Ukrainian army’s strength, they are responsible for about a third of Russian losses over the past 12 months. Over the period January-May, drones operated by Ukrainian fighters eliminated more than 50,000 Russian soldiers, an average of more than 300 per day.
kyiv’s goal is to increase this figure to 50,000 Russian soldiers eliminated per month2.
- The Ukrainian army considers fighters to be the most easily exhausted Russian resource, but also the most politically sensitive.
- Brovdi’s unit is ordered to spend a third of its time targeting soldiers, not armored vehicles or other equipment.3.
- High Russian losses are forcing Moscow to recruit more quickly and train its fighters less, thus making them more vulnerable to Ukrainian drones.
The increasing use of FPV drones on the front has led to a considerable increase in lethality on the front.
- The ratio of combat losses within the Russian army in recent months has stood at 1 dead for every 1.3 wounded, a figure well above the average for previous large-scale conventional conflicts (1 dead for every 3 to 5 wounded).
- The rate of wounded compared to killed on the Ukrainian front is thus similar to that of the First World War.
